Second Verse: Requiem
by Black King 201
Summary: Second Verse. Rather similar to the first. Just louder. And much, much worse. Sequel to Vergere's Refrain. Revised edition, used to be called Fugue.


Well, someone asked for a sequel, so while it's not that good, it's here. Oh, and one thing before I begin. Think about my description of his eyes. It may allow you to draw some conclusions about his path to power.

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Soooo, I get the feeling that other people might not understand the ending. See, I had kinda planned to have one more oneshot, about the story of Naruto/Arashi/Juubi. However, I get the feeling that I should end it here. Just for the fun of it, I'm going to pull a World's Neighbor and tell you how it was supposed to be. Basically, one of the first Naruto's in existence managed to absorbed the Kyuubi's power, and _ascended. _He became a Lord of a Multiverse, the ruler of all universes that contain a Naruto. And at first, it was great. He got to travel all over the place, to other multiverses entirely, meeting the Endless, shinigami, Contractors, etc., and generally having fun. After aeons, though, he eventually got tired of it and wanted to step down. The problem was that only a Naruto could rule their Multiverse, and not all were capable. Se he decided to create a perfect Multiversal Lord, one who wouldn't shirk his duties. Since he knew that the best way to make a great and responsible hero was for them to have defining moments of tragedy, he decided that there could be no greater tragedy to his chosen successor that to have everyone else on the planet die. But, a few hours later I decided to change all of that, to make it simpler by added one final Psyche! To the mix. Any questions or comments, review or PM.

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Within minutes of the Juubi's power being unleashed, Konoha was destroyed. That powerful village, which had withstood secret invasions, civil war, and a Demon Lord (and a dark reign) had been reduced to rubble, ashes, and dust. The Academy was immolated. The Arena was crushed. The Yondaime's face was peed on (to be fair, it was acid pee). Only one person was left alive. After that, the Juubi went in search of other targets. Iwa disappeared into an abyss. Kirigakure and Umi no Kuni vanished beneath tsunamis. Suna was ripped apart by cyclones, its citizens desiccated by sandstorms. Kumo was obliterated by lightning. Oto was incinerated. (What, you expected Oto's destruction to be ironic in some manner? What did you expect the Juubi to do, whistle a note on so pure a frequency that the buildings shatter? Please, that's lame. Besides, Oto-nin never hated music.) For six days, the Juubi rampaged across the land, slaughtering life wherever he saw it. On the seventh day, he rested. (You'll find no biblical connotations here! He just found a nice ramen stand in Yuki no Kuni and sat down to eat. (The ramen)) Then he went to sleep. That was, of course, until some idiot hit him with a kokuryu bofusetsu and woke him up. Said idiot was decapitated three seconds later, somewhere between the enunciation of "Oh sh-" and "-it'". Refreshed and rejuvenated, the Juubi went back to killing and destroying. (and incinerating, and immolating, and decimating, and decapitating, and defenestrating. Oh, and blowing up shit. I cannot stress that last one enough.) Eventually after he had put paid to pretty much everything else in the world, he found himself back at the ruins of Konoha.

Naruto sat in the remains of his village, surrounded by what, were they reconstituted from their ashes, would be the dead bodies of his friends. And teachers. And comrades. And that creepy old lady on 5th street who always through rocks wrapped in flowers at him whenever he passed by. (It's possible that she was undecided about him.) He had not eaten since the destruction on Konoha. Surprisingly, for once he wasn't blaming himself. He realized that he didn't free the Juubi, and so unless he had killed it then it would have gone and destroyed Konoha anyway. Well, he felt a little guilty about not attacking once he learned that Arashi was the Juubi. (And he had seemed like such a nice boy, too. Hardly the sort one expects to turn into an immortal Demon Lord.) He heard footsteps. He thought he should probably look up. His neck muscles, which had gotten rather used his current position, argued against it. The discussion turned slightly violent. Then a familiar voice said "Hello, Naruto," and he looked up.

Arashi, no, the Juubi, stared down at him, a slightly amused expression on his face. He wore the same clothes (and face, for that matter) that he had on when they first met. Naruto scrambled to his feet. His legs decided to join his neck in open rebellion and almost fell. He glared at Arashi. Arashi smiled back merrily.

"What are _you_ doing, here," Naruto snarled. Well, tried to snarl. His voice, having not been used in days, came out as more of a strangled hiss. Which actually kinda worked. "Have you finally come to kill me? Have you been saving me for last?"

"Now why on earth would I do something like that?" the Juubi replied airily. "I make it a point to never kill any of my counterparts."

"C-counterparts? What d'you mean, counterparts! I'm human, and you're the Juubi!"

"You know," the Juubi remarked, "It would be so much easier if they could just read the titles."

The only response Naruto could give to such a strange statement was, "What?"

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto. You really should listen when I talk. Didn't I already say that everything I tell you is a lie?"

"What are you-"

"But, I suppose it could be more amusing to actually tell the truth this time."

"Why should I believe anything you say! You're the Juubi. You destroyed my-"

"Oh, I'm not the Juubi," Arashi interrupted. "I'm afraid that's just one more misconception you'll have to work around."

"But you said-"

Arashi smiled, "I lied. The truth is that here, there is no Juubi. Here, Uchiha Madara is just a half–insane megalomaniac who heard a story and believed it to be true."

"But if you're not the Juubi," Naruto replied, "Then who are you?" (You'll notice that he appears to have forgotten that the person standing in front of him killed all his friends. He hasn't. Arashi just wants an audience.)

"I am a Lord of a Multiverse. I am the Ruler of all that contains my form, of _everywhere _and _everywhen_. I am your Dream, your Death, your Destiny, your Destruction, your Despair, your Desire, your Delight, your Delirium. I am the Master of this Demesne, the…editor of all tales within it." His visage changed, revealing a whiskered blond with slitted pupils, and eyes as blue as the azure sky. "I am Uzumaki Naruto."

By this time Naruto wasn't even able to muster up a shred of emotion, simply staring dully at his enemy. When he was finally able to speak, all he could say was "Really." His voice sounded dead, like he was in shock from all of the recent event and revelations. Then Arashi (some part of him refused to believe the latest claim) grinned wildly and laughed.

"Nah. I'm just the Kyuubi. I managed to escape when you beat Madara, and I figured I really should pay Konoha back for all the times they hurt you. You know, if you think about it, I actually did you a favor."

"A-A favor?"

"In a way." He grinned, then leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. "The rest of the world was just for the fun of it." He stood upright, looking down at Naruto with an almost pitying gaze. "You know, I guess I actually kind of like you. I always did same the best for last. Oh, well. Goodbye, my former host."

There was a flash of red, and then Uzumaki Naruto, last of all, died. The Kyuubi stared at his body for a moment, before incinerating it and walking away. The sun was rising. Dawn approached. It was a brand new day.


End file.
